She Watched
by Pepe Le Pew
Summary: She made a promise. History repeated itself. He came back. Ichi/Ruki one-shot


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**I cheated and only read the two or so chapters after Aizen's defeat. Especially the one where everyone got scolded. And this little one-shot blugeoned me to death demanding to be written. So right at the beginning there is spoilers for the chapter where Rukia says bye, after that, it's all fanfiction. I'll admit, I kinda like it. Lol, so I hope you guys enjoy this. **

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She had promised, promised to always watch over him. But it was hard watching over someone who was trying to destroy themselves so they could get something back that they probably never would.

She watched as he helped Karin cope with what she could do and see. She watched as he helped Yuzu with high school and as he helped his father with the clinic and as he studied and became smarter. She watched as he went to training with Tatsuki, catching up on the years he had missed out. She watched as he passed at the top of his year, one semester it was him the other it was Ishida Uryu. She watched as he strengthened his friendships and made new bonds.

She watched him during the day.

She watched as he indulged in the carnal pleasure of a different girl every week. She watched as he drank and smoke and stayed out much too late. She watched as he tried new things. She watched as he gained addictions and lost others. She watched as he tried to force himself to see things he couldn't see. She watched as he tried to force himself to feel things he couldn't feel. She watched as he slowly became a shell of how he used to be. She watched as his ways built and started to affect those around him.

She watched him during the night.

She was there the day his father told him he had a choice.

She was there the day his father made the biggest, most heart-breaking choice a father ever had to make. She was there when his father told him he could clean up his act or get out. She was there when his father told him to clean up or get out and never come back. And she had watched as it broke the both of them. She had watched as it all came crashing down around him and he had broken down and sobbed and cried and begged and pleaded and wished and screamed and it had torn at her not to be able to hold him.

She was there when he was booked into the rehabilitation center.

She was there when he willingly allowed himself to be booked into the rehabilitation center. She had watched as people made a big deal of it, shocked and surprised and worried. She had watched as he had rolled his eyes, acted nonchalant about it. She watched as his friends told him that the people were being stupid, was it really that surprising that he would end up in a place like this. Ishida had to dodge a punch for that. She watched as he struggled through the treatment, as his volatile temper flared with the withdrawal symptoms. She watched as he snapped and apologized for things he would never have said if he had been at his right mind. Mostly she watched as he got better.

She was there the day he realized something not even she expected.

She was there the day he kissed Tatsuki and told her that he might be in love with her. She had watched the dark haired girl smile and her heart had broken because she had wanted to be the dark haired girl he kissed and said he might be in love with. She had watched as Tatsuki smiled at him and told him that he shouldn't lie to himself. She had watched as confusion and incomprehension flashed across his face and as a frown settled between his brows. She had watched as Tatsuki told him that she was not her and that he should not fool himself into thinking that she is. She had watched as he had smiled ruefully, brushed his knuckles across the dark haired girl's cheek and hugged her. She had watched as he thanked her for being one his best friends.

She was there the day he did something she'd have thought he'd never do.

She was there the day he willingly moved in to share an apartment with Asano Keigo. They had been twenty. She had watched as they settled into a routine, as they studied and dreamt of strong, undependable futures where they were in control. She had watched as he learned and watched as he became something no one really thought he would. She had watched as he got praised for his intellect and his ability to see both sides of a case. She had watched as he was granted almost genius status because he could decipher cases faster than the people who solved them in the first place. She watched as he set up his future as one of the brightest psychological criminologists of his age.

She was there the day he met her.

She was there the day he met the girl with the large pale blue eyes and the black hair. She was there the day he met the girl who disliked being called midget. She watched as he built a friendship with the girl who stomped on his foot if he settled his elbow on her shoulder. She watched as he grew fond of the girl who knocked him behind the head when he did something she didn't agree with. She watched as he smiled her smile at the girl who yelled at him when he saved her (in a less than heroic manner from things like on time homework and bullies), but secretly appreciated that he would do something like that. She watched as he fell in love with the girl that wasn't her.

She was there the day he got married.

She was there the day he married the girl who looked like her. She watched as they danced and they laughed and they seemed lost in each other's eyes. She watched as Inoue and Sado and Ishida stood together and smiled and talked. She watched as they talked. She watched as they talked about the fact that he was doing something that was both right and wrong and maybe just a little sick of him. She watched as he swept her off her feet and danced with her the whole night, like she was the only one there. She watched as the reception came to an end and she kept watching until the car disappeared into the distance. She didn't follow him onto his honeymoon. She went home to Soul Society and grinned and laughed and waited until the order for her to go back went through.

She was there the day she announced that she was pregnant.

She was there the day the dark haired woman burst through the door, laughing and cheering and hugging him as she announced she was pregnant. She watched as his eyes lit up and he immediately started to make plans. She watched as he kissed her and thanked her and held her. She watched as they prepared for their little one. She watched as they made arrangements and as they went through baby books. She watched as they held each other, whispering words of love and sweetness to the slowly growing baby bump over the months. She watched as they finally decided on a name – for either gender – and she watched as they bought their clothes, made up the baby room and collected things that a baby, toddler, child and teenager would need. She watched as he literally lived for the day his child would be born. She watched as his wife realized that his excitement was not because he loved her, but because she was carrying something that would be his and always be his and something he could love – in a parental manner – just as much as he had loved the woman she resembles. She watched as his wife's excitement diminished and his grew, she watched as his wife became reluctant and withdrawn, as he became happier and more out going.

She watched as in the end her own realization and her child killed her.

She was there the day he was holding a little baby girl at his wife's funeral.

She was there the day he was holding a crying, sobbing little girl at his wife's funeral. She watched as the child cried uncontrollably, probably feeling the anxious sad emotions of those around her and not understanding what they were. She watched as he tried to calm her, tears in his eyes and a broken look on his face. She watched as those emotions faded over the weeks after his wife's funeral. She watched and was glad that he had not fallen into the same destructive desires of before. She watched as a love for his daughter shone through his eyes, bright and strong and powerful. She watched and decided that she needed to stop watching because it was killing her and she had a life to live of her own. She watched for one last time as he gently laid his child to rest and fell asleep on the rocking chair in the corner of her room, and then she left and never looked back.

She wasn't there when the child turned five and saw her first ghost.

She wasn't there when the child, who was starting to resemble her father more than her mother – except for the eyes, she had her mother's eyes and build, turned five and saw her first ghost. The ghost had been a small boy, her first friend ever, who played with her and who she loved for years to come because he was the only friend that never left her. She wasn't watching as the child grew to be friends with the Ishida/Inoue twins. She wasn't watching as her best friend became the Yasutora boy who had inherited his father's powerful stature. She wasn't watching as the girl became used to seeing ghosts, she wasn't watching as the girl became friends with nearly all of them. She wasn't watching to protect his child from the things that would eventually come from seeing ghosts.

She wasn't there when the child saw her first hollow.

She wasn't there when the child, with an almost sickening calm, saw her first hollow. She wasn't watching when the child watched as the Karakura representative slew that hollow right in front of her eyes. She wasn't watching when the child merely turned around and headed home and told her father that she had seen a strange man, with ugly as hell hair; in a black kimono slay a masked monster. She wasn't watching when the child's father merely rested her hand on her head and told her that when she was older she would understand better. She wasn't watching when they ignored the incident, ate ramen and talked like they usually did. She wasn't watching when he chased her around the house, playing with her. She wasn't watching when he tucked her into bed that night and told her that if anything scary came along that she just had to call him and it would go away. She wasn't watching as pain flickered across his eyes because he knew, he just knew, if something scary came along he wouldn't be able to see it, much less fight it off.

She wasn't there when the child went to school.

She wasn't there when the child grew old enough and went to school. She wasn't watching when the child grew and learned and studied and became just as smart as her father. She wasn't watching as the girl's only competitor and became one of the Ishida twins. She wasn't watching as the girl built friendships and bonds and strengthened already there bonds and friendships. She wasn't watching when the girl went to high school, working even harder than before because she wanted to be just like dad. She wasn't watching when the girl realized she liked school.

She wasn't there when the child had her first heartbreak and her father had his first moment where he realized she was growing up.

She wasn't there when the child had her first heartbreak, over a boy two years her older with a nasty temper and who was nothing like her dad or the type of guy she normally would've liked, and her father had his first moment where he realized she was growing up and he could stop time and keep her a little girl and that eventually she would be all grown. She wasn't watching as the child cried into her father's shoulder until she had no more tears left. She wasn't watching as the child and her father sat on the sofa eating chocolate ice cream and her father told her a story of a boy who went to a far away land to save a friend, endured difficulties and various other painful experiences to only in the end truly loose the one person he had loved with everything he had. She wasn't there to watch as the child smiled softly at her father and said that she was sure that somewhere in time they would meet again. She wasn't watching as the child's father cracked for the first time in many years and suddenly the child for who he was a pillar of strength was his pillar of strength.

She wasn't there when the child met her first shinigami.

She wasn't there when the child met her first shinigami, one with a snappish temper and a tendency to think she was an idiot. She wasn't watching as the child calmly accepted the brunette haired, gem-eyed boy with grace and told him that she had seen one of his kind before. She wasn't watching when the boy found himself unable to save her and her friends from her first hollow attack. She wasn't watching as the boy transferred half of his shinigami powers – something she had not been able to do all those years ago – to the girl and she wasn't watching as they fought the hollow together. She wasn't watching as the child allowed the boy to sleep in her closet like it was normal. She wasn't watching as their friendship grew between the insults and initial distrust. She wasn't watching as their bond grew and they grew stronger together. She wasn't watching when the boy taught her the things she hadn't taught him when it had been her sleeping in his closet. She wasn't watching as the child fell in love with the boy and the boy fell in love with the child. She wasn't watching when they were ripped apart because of an unforgiving Society who's laws were more important than their people.

She wasn't there the day the child's father realized his abilities were coming back.

She wasn't there the day the child's father realized, because he had felt the boy, his abilities were coming back. She wasn't watching as he silently trudged up the stairs and slid opened the child's door in the dead of night. She wasn't watching as he quietly slid the door of her closet back and found the brunette haired boy curled up and sleeping soundly in her closet. She wasn't watching as he stood staring at the boy, wondering where she was putting her clothes if he was sleeping in her closet. She wasn't watching as he carefully slid the door shut, kissed his daughter on the head and left the room to sit in his own and stare at the wall. She wasn't watching as he walked out of the house and headed straight for the Urahara shop. She wasn't watching as he spent days, weeks, months rebuilding his power to its former glory. She wasn't watching as he went through painful procedures, as he crushed his inner hollow and rebuild his relationship with his zanpakuto.

She wasn't there when Soul Society realized that their shinigami hasn't come back and went to collect.

She wasn't there when Soul Society realized their shinigami hasn't come back and sent three captain class shinigami to collect. She wasn't watching as Soul Society learned from one former mistake and only sent captain class to collect an unseated officer who would never be able to stand up to them. She wasn't watching as the child's father forced himself to stay out of it. She wasn't watching as the child's father literally had himself chained down in Urahara's underground training area as he subdued his spirit force so as not to be sensed. She wasn't watching as the child bravely went up against Hitsugaya, Kuchiki and Zaraki and lost spectacularly. She wasn't watching as the boy screamed at her to stop and to just run and never come back. She wasn't watching as the boy's father had to cut down his own son, to subdue him for arrest, when he attacked him. She wasn't watching as they disappeared through the Senkaimon and the child's father found her bleeding beneath the silent moon.

She wasn't watching.

She wasn't there when the child's father himself taught her about being a shinigami.

She wasn't there when the child's father himself, through various methods and help from others, taught her about being as shinigami. She wasn't watching as the girl worked hard, formed a real relationship with her zanpakuto and grew stronger. She wasn't watching as the child learned kido and various fighting methods. She wasn't watching as the child accepted what her father never told her, she wasn't watching as the child's bond with her father grew even stronger and more powerful. She wasn't watching as the child became a shinigami worth watching out for. She wasn't watching as the child became like her father.

She wasn't watching as the child invaded Soul Society, but she felt it.

She wasn't watching as the child invaded Soul Society, she was tending to the duties of the Division lieutenant, but she had felt it. She wasn't watching as Yoruichi and Ishida and Inoue and Sado and her father took her through the very things that they had gone through to get her back, but she had thought the child was alone and had thought that it was suicide and she had thought that maybe, just maybe she could convince the Captain Commander to go easy on both children. She wasn't watching as the child easily created a bubble around her with her spirit force and she wasn't watching as the child and Ganju slipped into the arguing relationship he had with her father, but she was thinking that it was taking an awful lot of time for them to enter the Court. And she was thinking that someone would have to go to the human world and enter a faux and tell him that his daughter met her end in Rukongai before she could even do what she wanted. And she was thinking that someone would have to go and tell the boy that the girl he loved died before she could save him. She wasn't watching, but she was thinking and she was hoping.

She wasn't watching when the child purposely sought out Hitsugaya taichou and fought him for the sake of her friend, she wasn't watching but she was there and she was experiencing it.

She wasn't watching when the child purposely, and admittedly stupidly, sought out Hitsugaya taichou for the sake of her friend, and fought him with all she had and with everything she didn't have, she wasn't watching but she was there, and she saw that fight and she watched as the older, more experienced of the two, was brought to his knees, and she was experiencing it and she was thinking that Soul Society was loosing a fight it would loose for the second time. She was there as the child defeated the Tenth Division taichou. She was there as the child and her companions defeated the eleventh, sixth and tenth divisions completely, not only putting their captains out of commission, but putting the whole division out of commission.

She was there as Yamamoto sotaichou decided to step in.

She was there, along with every other high ranked officer of Soul Society, as Yamamoto sotaichou decided to step in. She was there, staring with everyone else, as father and daughter stood back to back, slightly lowered to the ground with their legs a comfortable, balanced distance from each other and their swords held out in front of them. She was there as Zaraki and Kuchiki and Hitsugaya removed themselves from treatment to watch. She was there, smiling, as she watched the black blade of a Bankai glint in the sun, contrasting the hauntingly pale blue of his daughter's Bankai. She was there as father and daughter prepared to attack together to save the boy sitting with wide eyes just behind them. She was there when the captain commander pulled back as they all realized exactly who the Ryoka was. She was there as the captain commander smiled and said that they should make a better effort in the learning of a Kurosaki mind set. She was there as the girl visibly relaxed. She was there as the child's Bankai forcibly returned to normal and as she sunk to her knees in a dead faint, unable to continue. She was there when the boy caught her and begged her not to die. She was there when her father smiled ruefully and gently picked her up and muttered something she couldn't hear.

She was there when she got him back.

She was there, standing in the hospital room of the sleeping girl, when she got him back. She was there when he walked through the door and studied her as if he's never seen her before. She was there when he pulled her towards him and kissed her in a way that made her knees grow weak and her heart to hammer and her mind to blank and her breath to leave her. She was there when he told her that he loved her. She was there when he told her that he's always loved her.

She was there the day they went back to the human world.

She was there the day they went back, Kurosaki Rukia – who preferred Kia – knocked Hitsugaya Levi hard on the back of head and told him that he should become stronger and not get into such deep shit because she wasn't going to save him a second time and purposely stalked through the Senkaimon leaving everyone to watch the arrogant child with a smile, back to the human world. She was there when they arrived in the human world, having given up her title as the Thirteenth Division's lieutenant with a promise that if trouble ever struck she would be the first in line behind the Kurosaki family who would stand behind Soul Society.

She was there the day that Kia and Levi faced off against each other and beat the living hell out of each other with no victor.

She was there the day that Kia and Levi faced off, on a challenge from Kia because she said the now taller brunette was only tall not strong, against each other and beat the living hell out of each other with no victor, because their power was equal. She was there the day they faced off against their fathers and lost spectacularly against the older men after impressive battles. Not for lack of trying – because their killing intent had been as powerful as it had been with any enemy – but for the simple fact that their fathers were so far out of their leagues that it would've been funny if they could win. She was there when the two children disappeared out of their hospital rooms and was only found late into the night in Juninran, sleeping soundly beneath a tree on a grassy hill by a member of the eleventh Division. Yumichika to this day refuses to say in what state he found them.

She was there the day Kia and Levi gazed down at her first born child and was wondering exactly what they were thinking.

She was there the day Kia and Levi – ignoring a passed out Ichigo – gazed down at the small bundle that was her first child and was wondering exactly what they were thinking because she was so afraid that Ichigo's child would not accept her or the child in her arms.

She was there the day Kia smirked and walked out of the room with barely saying something. She still heard what the girl said though.

"Dad's got the perfect ending to his story now."


End file.
